Summer may have eventually made an appearance, but with Autumn looming it’s now back to school, back to work, and back to business for most of us. As people settle down into their familiar routines following the disruption of summer, their online behaviour and social media habits return to a more predictable pattern. The disruption of school holidays, time off and trips abroad are replaced with school runs and the familiar daily commute, making it easier to reach your audience and deliver your message in a more consistent way.
The beginning of Autumn is a great time to recharge your social media. The change of season provides a natural opportunity to pause and take stock of what’s going well and what could be doing better.
Here are 5 tips to get you started:
Learn from your data.
Take the start of a new season as an opportunity to review your social media performance. Each platform will provide you with performance statistics so that you can assess what is working for you. What type of content drives the best engagement? What time of day and day of the week are your audience responding to? What was it about that one post that saw record likes and shares? Was it the type of image, the subject you were posting about or something personal that you shared about yourself? Digging into the performance of your content will help you make it more engaging and ultimately guide you on what and how to post moving forwards.
Equally, if you have channels that are not performing well, consider whether your time might be better focussed elsewhere. Revisit your reasons for using that social media channel – is it delivering what you’d hoped? Is it worth your time to continue, and if so, what changes need to made?
Plan, plan and plan some more.
It is always worth taking time at the beginning of the season to plan ahead and shape your content calendar to make sure you are best placed to take advantage of all that the coming months have to offer. While it may feel like time that you just don’t have, carving out those hours to populate your content plan can not only save you time down the line, it reduces those last minute scrambles for something to post, and it ensures that your content is well thought through and relevant to your audience.
Tap into the mood.
The days are shortening and the nights are drawing in. You’ve used up your holiday allowance for the year and are back to the commute, back to the grind. Do you have a service or product that could help ease those back to work blues? Sometimes the smallest gesture can make a memorable difference in someone’s day; from some inspiring words, to a free drink or a back to school discount. Tapping into a feeling can be a powerful way of connecting with a community and reminding people that you are there for them.
Dates to celebrate.
The period from September to the end of the year provides a regular stream of well-loved dates to celebrate in social, from Halloween, Guy Fawkes through to the long run up to Christmas. Think carefully about whether the event fits with your brand values, and if you think it does, then take time to ensure your wording is correct. If you are planning on giving back to your customers, whether a discount or special offer, try and finalise the details and logistics in advance, so that you have time to execute the build-up in your social media channels.
It’s a sharable season.
There’s much to love and share about Autumn and this is reflected in people’s social media streams. Sharing these moments gives you common ground with your community and the opportunity to tap into new audiences, especially at a local level. Sunny, crisp Autumnal mornings, the first frost, greens being replaced with reds and ocres and golden hues. It doesn’t take much to paint that recognisable picture of Autumn and if you’re stuck for content, then these seasonal highlights are a good way to fill the gaps.
We hope you have found this useful. If you would like to talk to us about your social media strategy then we would love to hear from you.